


Whispers of Madness

by Yeshua



Category: Guild Wars 2 (Video Game), Guild Wars Series (Video Games)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-03-06
Updated: 2017-03-08
Packaged: 2018-09-30 01:23:54
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,292
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10149965
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Yeshua/pseuds/Yeshua
Summary: Before she was Scarlet Briar, she was known as Ceara. From the vibrant forests to the war torn skies of Lion's Arch, this is her story, from start to finish. (Living Story Seasons 1 and 2 Spoilers)





	1. Do Sylvari Dream of Plant Sheep?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is my take on Scarlet's backstory and character since anet didn't really give us much outside of the arrogant, crazy, homicidal plant lady that we've all come to know and love. It's going to be a long journey, hope you enjoy it with me.

Breathe in.

 

Breathe out.

 

_Oh...it hurts._

 

_Mother, it hurts…_

 

My vision blurred. I moved one shaking hand to my side. The effort made me scream in agony. I didn’t have to look at my hand to know it would be smeared in blood.

 

How did it go so bad?

 

**Get up, Scarlet.**

 

I let out a tiny whimper as that voice reverberated through my mind. There was never a moment of peace...this torment…

 

**Set me free.**

 

I closed my eyes, pressed them tightly together. I could feel his influence in my mind growing, the tendrils of madness creeping in. Soon the sylvari who wounded me would arrive to put me out of my misery. How much of myself did I have left? I opened my eyes and gazed up at the panel next to me. This was the Breachmaker, my finest feat of engineering...and my tomb. I gingerly shifted my body over so I could see my wound. Mangled flesh…

 

There was more damage than I could see, I knew that much. I wouldn’t be alive much longer.

 

“She’s in there!”

 

I jumped at the sound of a new voice and hissed in pain.

 

**Get up. Free me.**

 

The command echoed in my head and I cried out. My body trembled, struggling to rise as the Master flexed his will over me. I could feel madness overriding my thoughts.

 

_I need to keep the drill running._

 

I was on my feet now, trembling like a leaf.

 

_I could surrender...I could run._

 

My gaze moved to the emergency hatch across the massive area that served as the cockpit of this ship.

 

_I could run, no one would find me. No one would know where I went._

 

**I don’t think so. I will devour your hope and magic and cast you into despair, just like I will do to all of Tyria. You will resist me no further.**

 

I knew my fate had been signed before the Master finished his sentence. I closed my eyes, a sob escaping from my lips.

  
“Mai...I’m so sor---”

 

* * *

  


**Prelude: Do Sylvaris Dream of Plant Sheep?**

 

Ceara:

 

My first memories were simplistic and beautiful. My “birthplace” was in a brightly colored forest, littered with multicolored leaves of every hue. It was amazing. Though I don’t know if I would call it just that. I don’t think there was a word for it in my mother tongue that would describe it. The humans had a word or two: Utopia...paradise…

 

The days were always warm and pleasant with nary a cloud in the sky. I spent my days alone at first, always carefully placed just far enough away from the other sylvari. There were a lot of us in this place, although there were fewer each day. There were rumors flying about, the main one making the bold claim that the disappeared were being “born”. I wasn’t sure how that was possible. Didn’t that already happen?

 

My days went by unchanged until one day I had a visitor. I stared at him. He stared back with dark eyes that shone with intelligence and something else I couldn’t quite identify.

 

“I’m not sure I want company,” I said, barely making an effort to hide my discomfort.

 

I wasn’t sure why he decided to join me. There was always some kind of chatter in the forest, mostly unspoken. Each sylvari could talk to each other using a simple form of telepathy, which mean that there was a lot of unneeded noise. I had found that if I kept my distance from the others, there was less chatter. However, that tended to make the others notice me more. Like now.

 

“I’ve noticed that you sit away from the others,” My newest visitor commented, not at all fazed by the tone of my voice earlier.

 

“The others talk too much.”

 

He nodded in agreement.

 

“It’s always about the same subject: being born. My name is Canach, what is yours?”

 

I was actually shocked. Most of the sylvari here didn’t know their names yet. They referred to each other in their own special code that I had learned through eavesdropping. I had learned mine upon waking up one day. I imagine that’s how the others found out. I mean it would probably be weird to be born without knowing your name.

 

“Ceara,” I replied in a small voice.

 

I loved saying my name. It was something that I owned. It would forever be my name.

 

“So, Ceara, what is your opinion on being born? I mean if the rumors are true, we’ll probably never see this place again.”

 

I shrugged.

 

“I don’t really know. I think I would rather stay here. We don’t really know what’s out there.”

 

“That’s true.”

 

With that, we lapsed into silence. Comfortable, mutual silence. I wasn’t sure how the others were able to talk so much. It wasn’t like there was a lot to talk about.  
  


* * *

 

The days went by without much variation. Canach and I spent countless days together, sometimes speaking and sometimes lying in silence. The topic of being born came up quite often, but it never went far. No one knew anything new. Our numbers, however, were dwindling. Each new day heralded the disappearance of more sylvari.

 

Then one day, my world changed.

 

And Canach, bless the Mother, was right. I never did see the Dream again.

  
Little did I know that my time was already starting to run out.


	2. Hi, I'm Ceara!

**Chapter 1: Hi, I’m Ceara!**

 

I was in a black void that stretched as far as the eye could see. It was unnerving. It felt like just moments ago I was lying in the forest staring at the night sky. I was pondering being born for what was probably the millionth time when my world went black. There was a feeling worming through my chest. I couldn’t describe it with a word, but it made my body tremble. A soft laugh found its way to my ears, high and wild.

 

_ Don’t you know? Scarlet is my name now. Scarlet Briar! _

 

More laughter...and then…

 

_ I won’t let you forget it. _

 

The voice was low and sensual, much different than it was moments before. There was an image that flashed briefly before my eyes. All I could make out was a hint of red...it almost looked like hair...like…

 

A red dot appeared in the distance, drawing my gaze. With each passing second it drew closer. The feeling that I experienced earlier returned. I didn’t want that thing to come closer.

 

**What’s this? Another fragile mind? How interesting…**

 

What? Fragile mind? What was this thing talking about? As my mind scrambled to figure out what that thing meant, it suddenly appeared in front of me. It wasn’t a dot, but the eye of something horrifying. There was something terrible lurking in that eye...I could feel it worming its way into my mind.

 

**Shh...don’t fight it. I will know your secrets little sylvari. After all, you’re my chosen one. I’ll see you soon…**

 

I screamed.

 

“Sapling! Sapling!”

 

The world exploded with light and I screamed louder, my hands flying up protectively across my face. Hands grabbed my arms, intending to soothe/restrain me.

 

“Easy! Easy! What is your name, sapling?”

 

I took several shuddering breaths. I could still feel that thing’s touch on my mind.

 

_Calm yourself, Ceara. You’ve got to get a hold of yourself._

 

Strong arms lifted me up into a sitting position, giving me a few of my surroundings which were currently obscured by other sylvari. Sylvari faces that met mine, twisted in confusion and concern. I covered my mouth with my hands, forcing stifling myself from screaming again. I glanced down at them and saw that they were shiny and wet. Was I crying…? A sylvari knelt down in front of me, peering into my face with a thinly disguised frown. I stared back at her. Her bark was a rich brown, which reminded me of the color of the tree trunks back in the forest. Suddenly, I would have given anything for me to be alone.

 

After a few moments of silence, the sylvari reached out and touched my hands.

 

“My name is Selene. I’m one of the helpers tasked with helping the newborns. I’m one of the Secondborn like you. Welcome home, sister.”

 

Home? Secondborn? Newborn? There were so many questions floating around in my head. One thing was for sure, I wasn’t in the place that I had called home for so many days.

 

“My name is Ceara,” I mumbled through my fingers.

 

Selene smiled. I knew the smile was supposed to make me feel welcome, but it had the opposite effect.

 

“Good, good. It’s wonderful to meet you sister. When you feel ready, I will take you to the menders.”

 

Selene held her hands out towards me. With trembling hands, I took them and stood up.

 

“Alright, shows over everyone. Go find your mentor. Shoo,” She said in a loud and commanding voice.

 

The crowd slowly dissipated, accented with mumbles and the sound of shuffling footsteps. I followed Selene through the stragglers and into a tunnel that was lined with earthen walls with roots interwoven throughout. I took a long, slow sniff of the air. It was sweet and cloying. I paused a bit, taking more of it in. Selene stopped a few paces ahead of me near the exit of the tunnel.

 

“Do you need a moment? Are you feeling ill?” She asked, her voice echoing slightly in the tunnel.

 

I jogged a little to catch up to her, feeling a tiny bit like I had been caught in the act of doing something slightly unflattering. The word embarrassment came to my mind, but I had no idea where it came from.

 

“No, the air smells wonderful here. It smells...welcoming.”

 

Selene nodded.

 

“I understand completely. This is your new home, the Grove,” She said as she motioned for me to step outside the tunnel.

 

I did as she asked and let out a soft gasp. The Grove was massive with curving walkways lined with flowers and vines. There were pod shaped buildings with sylvari bustling out and about. And that was what I could see. As I looked around, my mind supplied knowledge that I had no idea I had obtained in the first place. But nothing prepared me for what I saw when I looked up.

 

There were branches with giant leaves that illuminated the upper boughs as well as the surrounding area in a soft purple light, much like the current night sky. It was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen. This place was the Mother, our Mother, the Pale Tree. I hugged myself gently. It was so overwhelming. I felt new...raw. I was afraid too. I knew no one here. I hadn’t seen Canach at all. He definitely wasn’t in the crowd that had gathered around me earlier.

 

“I swear Dearheart, these new sylvari are so uncultured. Standing around with their mouth open. That’s how you catch flies.”

 

The voice belonged to a sylvari several yards ahead of me who was walking with a partner. Clearly she was talking to her companion, but I had a feeling I was the topic at hand. I gently touched my mouth just to check to see if it was indeed open.

 

It wasn’t.

 

The sylvari who had spoken earlier had bark the color of plums. Her hair was distinct with thin spindly branches snaking forth from her scalp with leaves peppered about here and there. Her companion had rich green colored bark and a head full of green leaves that framed her face. She chuckled softly and shrugged.

 

“Oh Faolain, don’t make fun. We were all like that once,” She admonished.

 

Faolain? Who is Faolain? Before I could ask Selene about it, I was led away from the duo into a the closest hut. I followed her deep into the hut and sat down in the chair that she had pointed to seconds later.

 

“Wait here a moment sapling.”

 

Selene smiled and disappeared out of sight. I gazed around. I was in a large room filled with beds and chairs. It was empty as far as I could tell and quiet too.

 

“I’ve got another one, Mender.”

 

That sounded like Selene’s voice…

 

“Another Secondborn woke up screaming?”

 

There was someone else like me? Who saw what I saw? I slowly got up from my chair and looked around. Where were they? I couldn’t see them.

 

“There seems to be so many of them lately. Someone should tell the Mother about it.”

 

Was there something wrong with me? The red eye and the voice that chilled my soul…

 

“The Mother is almost impossible to get to unless you’re Firstborn. I’m not sure it’s worth the trouble.”

 

A sigh.

 

“I know...its just happening more and more now.”

 

“I’ll check her over, but I’m sure it's not of any concern. Thank you for telling me.”

 

I quickly settled back into my seat, my mind buzzing with thoughts and questions. Maybe I could talk to the others. Maybe I could find Canach too and find out if anyone saw what I saw.

 

* * *

  
  
I went hours at the menders hut where I was poked and prodded constantly. I kept myself from asking questions. I didn’t want them to know that I had overheard their conversation. Once they were satisfied, they sent me to my new home under the guidance of Malomedies, the mentor for those born during the night cycle. He was one of the Firstborn, the sylvari that were closest to our Mother. After meeting him, I went right to bed, grateful for some rest. I needed time to process things.


End file.
